Getting a Word in Edgewise
by Lara Zed
Summary: Hermione wants some kind of a sign that her relationship with George is going to move forward, but she's not sure she can just keep waiting for one. Birthday fic for WeasleyForMe.


A/N: This is a (somewhat belated) birthday present for the lovely and talented WeasleyForMe! I am so sorry for the delay! The last few weeks have been crazy and exhausting. I really hope you enjoy it!

Prompts: George/Hermione, moonlight, dessert, high heels, fluff and/or smut

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Getting a Word in Edgewise

Hermione found herself walking out of the banquet hall, with its interior lavishly decorated in opulent banners, garlands, and balloons of deep blue and crimson – a compromise between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor colours. She hoped the bride and groom wouldn't notice her slipping out of the room and into the hallway. She loved them both, she really did, and she made it through the toasts and the dinner and the start of the dancing, but she suddenly realized she just could not take it anymore.

With this wedding, it was now everyone. Everyone except for her.

She sighed deeply, and walked down the hallway for the main door. She'd come back inside soon; she just needed a little space. A little space, and some fresh air. That was all.

The door of the banquet hall opened, and Ginny stepped out, her face flushed from dancing. She initially headed in the direction of the toilets, but she stopped when she noticed Hermione's retreating figure, already halfway down the hallway.

"Oi! Hermione!" she called after her friend, and changed direction to go after her.

Hermione turned around, brushing at her cheeks with the back of her hands as she did so.

"Hi, Ginny!" she said brightly – _just_ too brightly to be properly convincing.

Ginny frowned, understanding the reason behind the falseness of Hermione's tone. The shininess of her eyes and the slight blotchiness of her cheeks didn't go unnoticed by Ginny, either.

"Hermione, you _can't_ be crying over this," she said, both sympathy and scolding in her voice. "It's not such a big deal. This is not something that you've ever cared about before. And now is really not the right time to be in a mood."

Hermione cleared her throat. "First off, Ginny, I am not crying. Second, you can say it's not a big deal because you aren't in the same position that I'm in. I know I've never cared about it before, but I do now, and furthermore, I know it's not the right time to care, but I _do!_" She went red with embarrassment instantly, as the last words in her response were just a little louder and shriller than she intended.

Ginny folded her arms and walked toward Hermione. "Getting married really _isn't_ that big a deal, though," she said. "I don't think it's changed my relationship with Harry much. We were already living together. I know you're upset, but it doesn't change your life all _that_ much."

"Right. Not _that_ much. So even if you and Harry weren't married yet, you'd still be pregnant with your second child right now?" asked Hermione, gesturing in the direction of Ginny's stomach, a small bump that was just starting to show.

"Well, maybe I wouldn't say that…" said Ginny.

"Exactly. You _wouldn't_ say that, because things might be different. Just a bit. Just enough. Look, it's not the ceremony or the ring or the piece of paper or any of that that I care about," said Hermione. "It's the fact that he won't even talk about it. Like you said, you and Harry were already living together when you got married. We're not even doing that! We're not even making plans to move in together yet."

Ginny sighed. "Yeah."

"And it's just… now it's everyone I know. You and Harry, then Neville and Hannah, Percy and Audrey, Luna and Rolf, even Charlie married that American girl he met when he was travelling! And now, tonight, with Ron and Padma getting married… It just feels like… No, it _is_ the case. Everyone in our social circle is married. Everyone except me, and him," she said.

Ginny looked away awkwardly. "Do you want me to say something to him? Try to get his head out of his arse? Someone should. He might listen to me," she suggested thoughtfully.

Hermione shook her head. "Nah. What I really need is for him to figure this one out on his own. He needs to figure out if it's what he wants. And I just hope… I hope that I can wait long enough for him to make up his mind."

Ginny's eyes widened. "Are you thinking of ending things?" she asked.

"No, not really," Hermione said, and then shrugged. "No… I guess that I'm wondering if I should be _thinking about_ thinking about ending it," she answered. "I realize how ridiculous that sounds. I don't want to end things with him. I love him. But I feel like I have to start considering that as a possibility. Our relationship doesn't seem to be going anywhere, and I want to know that at some point in time, I can start planning for my future. Just – just please don't say anything to him, okay?"

Ginny bit her lip and nodded. "You do whatever you need to do," she said. "But I hope you come back inside soon. It's a party, right? You should be having a good time and celebrating with your friends."

"I will," said Hermione, successfully managing a small smile. "I just need a minute or two to myself. I promise I'll be back inside soon, okay?"

"Okay," answered Ginny, and gave Hermione a quick hug before heading back toward the toilets.

Hermione turned around again and stepped out the door of the hall. It was a warm summer night, with a cool enough breeze to prevent her from getting sweaty and dishevelled. She took a deep breath, and stretched her arms up in the air. The fabric of her navy evening gown brushed pleasantly against her bare legs as she walked further away from the building.

This pleasant moment of privacy wouldn't last long, as the door opened again only a moment later. Hermione had some cover of darkness on her side, having walked toward some nearby trees, but it was only a minute before she was approached.

"Hermione," said George. "I was wondering where you'd gone. You were going to miss dessert, and Ginny mentioned she saw you stepping out, so I brought you some."

Hermione kept her back turned, and didn't answer. After several seconds of this silence, a hand holding a plate appeared over her shoulder.

"Come on, it's cheesecake. Your favourite," said George in a teasing, singsong voice, waving the dessert in front of her.

She chuckled lightly and turned around, taking the plate, and the fork her was proffering in his other hand.

"Thank you, George," she said, taking a slow bite. She conjured a blanket to cover the grass and sat down, stretching her legs out underneath the gibbous moon.

George watched her for a moment, her skin seeming to almost glow under the bright moonlight. He frowned as she ate in total silence, and sat down next to her.

"What are you doing out here, anyway?" he asked. "You're missing all the fun inside. There's dancing, and cheesecake, and all of your friends… and me." He smiled, attempting cheekiness but failing for once, nervous about Hermione's strange demeanour.

Hermione smiled weakly. "Just needed a moment to myself, that's all," she said, putting her plate down between them, her slice of cheesecake just barely touched. She brushed her unruly curls away from her face and looked up at the sky.

"Hey. I'm not an idiot. I can tell when something's wrong with you, okay? I'd like to think that I know you pretty well by now, so why don't you stop all this weirdness and tell me what's on your mind?" he said, a bit forcefully.

Hermione looked back at him, a fire starting in the back of her eyes. "You'd like to think you know me pretty well? Why don't you tell me what this is about, then? Why don't you tell me why I walked out of one of my best friend's weddings?"

George shrugged. "Haven't the foggiest. Obviously, I wouldn't be asking if I knew."

Hermione sighed exasperatedly and pushed herself up. "This isn't even worth getting into," she said, walking away from him.

George stood up, and performed a quick, silent _Aguamenti_, aiming the stream of water coming from his wand at the grassy area Hermione was walking toward. After taking only few steps further, her high heels sunk into the dampened earth.

"Damn it!" she said, almost in tears of frustration now.

George rushed up beside her, and offered his arm. "Need a little help?" he asked.

Hermione let out another deep breath expressing her exasperation. "My shoes are stuck," she admitted.

"All right, easily remedied! Here we go!" he said, and before she could protest, he lifted her up, hoisting her over his shoulder. Her shoes remained stuck in the wet earth.

"No, George!" she squealed with laughter, despite her anger. "George, my shoes!"

"I'm on it," he said, carefully bending down to pick them up. Shoes in one hand, and Hermione secured over his shoulder by the other, he carried both back to the blanket she had abandoned moments prior.

He carefully set her down. "There you go," he said, and handed her the shoes. Sitting down beside her, he tried again to pass her the cheesecake. "Now, let's try this again. Do you want to tell me what this is all about?"

Hermione was examining her high heels and scowling. "These are an absolute mess now!" she complained.

"Never mind the shoes. We can clean them up later," said George. He grabbed them with his free hand and tossed them several feet away.

"Hey!" she exclaimed.

"Now you're stuck here. So talk to me," he said.

"Can I at least eat my cheesecake at the same time?" she asked, resigned.

George grinned. "Sure."

Savouring a long, slow nibble of cheesecake, she finally took the fork out of her mouth as she saw George's expectant, nervous expression.

"It's not like you _did_ anything. I want you to know that. Maybe I'm not handling this as well as I should be, or as well as I'd like to, but it's just…" she trailed off.

"It's just what?" he pressed.

"I feel stupid even saying it. I'm not supposed to be the type of woman who cares about these things," she said.

"You're allowed to care about whatever you want," George reassured her. "I'd just like to know what you're thinking."

"Everyone is married now except for me!" Hermione exclaimed, and shut her mouth quickly.

George laughed. "That's what this is all about?" he asked.

"Yes, yes it is, and I will thank you not to laugh at me," answered Hermione. "Look, I never thought for a minute that I'd be the sort of person to care about such old-fashioned things as not getting married soon enough, but… Well, I've been the bridesmaid or the maid of honour for a number of weddings, and now, with Ron and Padma getting married, that makes it everyone that I'm really close with. They're all married, and moving forward with their lives together, and I don't know where things are going with us, or if they're going anywhere at all!"

George scratched his head. "Hermione, it's not like we're that old or anything…"

"No, we aren't _that_ old! But I'm still just a couple of months away from turning thirty, and all of my friends are married, and having kids, and getting their personal lives in order!" She took a deep breath and put down her cake. "George, we have been together for _five years_ now. Five! Ron and Padma have been together for all of a year, and they knew it was right for them!"

"It's not a competition," mumbled George. "Not all couples are exactly the same."

"No, but ideally, both people in the couple should feel similarly about the important things. I've been ready for our relationship to progress for the last few years, and I keep trying to talk to you about it, and you just… I don't know, you just avoid it. You change the subject. And I really don't know how much longer I can put up with it!"

"Merlin's beard, Hermione, do you think I'm thrilled about it either?" fumed George.

"What?" asked Hermione. "If you're so unhappy about it, why don't you do something about it? I've tried to bring up the topic of moving in together plenty of times…"

"Yeah, you have. Plenty of times. Plenty of times while I could only _just_ afford the tiny flat above the shop because I had been sinking all of my money into expanding the store. Don't you think I'd love to live with you, if it had been the financially responsible thing to do? But like you said, we're young and we're getting our personal lives in order. For me, that had to be the store first, because if things went south for me with it, then at least I wouldn't be dragging you down with me!" he finished, crossing his arms.

Hermione was somewhat quieted. "Why haven't you told me this? I could have helped. I'd have wanted to loan you some of my money, or do something," she said.

"That's exactly the reason why I haven't told you," replied George. "I didn't want your money. I didn't want you to feel like you needed to help. I wanted to be able to do it on my own, and I didn't want you to think that I needed to be bailed out by my girlfriend."

"I wouldn't have thought –"

"And I didn't want to think that about myself, either," George interrupted.

"Oh," said Hermione, and thought quietly for a moment. "Are you okay now? Financially, I mean? I understand that you don't want my help like _that_, but if there is anything I can do…"

George smiled and put his arm around Hermione. "It's nice that you offered. And that you care. But I can very proudly say that for the last several months – and I didn't want to jinx it, but it's been long enough to look like a pattern now – for the last several months, actually, almost a year, all locations of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes has been in the black."

"George, that's wonderful!" exclaimed Hermione, throwing her arms around her boyfriend. Angry or not, she would not be able to contain her excitement at such good news about his shop. She knew exactly how important it was to him.

George put his arms around Hermione's waist and pulled her into his lap. "I'm sorry that I haven't been able to talk to you about this," he said. I just wanted to, you know, get things sorted out first."

Hermione smiled, and affectionately ran a finger along his jawline. "I'm just thrilled to hear you've been doing so well!"

"And like you said, all of our friends have been getting their lives in order. It's practically impossible to get a word in edgewise," added George.

Hermione furrowed her brow. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, there have been all these _announcements_. Six months ago was Charlie and Emily's wedding, then Ron and Padma got engaged a month after that, then Bill and Fleur announced that they're expecting their third kid, and then Ginny and Harry announced their second one! Seriously, what can a guy do to get a word in of his own around here?" finished George, exasperated.

"I still don't know what you're talking about," said Hermione. "I know this has been a busy year, but –"

George reached into his pocket. "I'm talking about this," he said, producing a small black velvet box. He opened it to reveal a white gold ring with a round sapphire in its centre surrounded by little diamonds. Hermione gasped.

"I've been carrying it around for half a year already, waiting for even a minute where it wasn't somebody else's major life event going on," he said. "I don't even like the idea of proposing at someone else's wedding. I don't want to look like I'm trying to steal anyone else's thunder, and I wanted you to have a special moment of your own. But at this point, I figure if I don't do it now, tomorrow Ginny will find out she's having triplets or something, and there's another choice moment out the win-"

His words were cut off as Hermione pressed her mouth to his, her hands immediately on the back of his head and running through his hair.

Still holding the ring in its box, he ran his hands down her arms, gripping her tightly by the waist while he kissed her back. Their tongues lazily stroked each other's firmly for several minutes before something suddenly occurred to George, and gently broke away from her.

"So is that a yes?" he asked, proffering the ring again.

Hermione accepted it, and slipped it onto her finger. She admired it under the moonlight for just a moment before turning her attention back to George. She smiled widely, and nodded her head. "That is very much a 'yes,'" she answered.

George grinned back. "Good," he said. "Now where were we? Oh, that's right."

He claimed Hermione's lips once more, harder and with more need. She responded in kind, roughly grabbing his jacket by the lapels and pulling him in closer to her. Without breaking contact she kneeled on the blanket and swung her leg over both of his, straddling him. His lips left hers, and connected with her collarbone. She gasped as he bit down, and again when his hand, which had been making its way up her smooth thigh, found its way between her legs. Curling a solitary finger underneath her silk knickers, he moistened it against her slick folds, then finding her swollen nub.

She gasped as he began to lightly stroke her. She managed to pant out a quick privacy spell, so the open area they were in would appear empty to passers-by, just in time before allowing a low, guttural moan to slip from her lips. George grinned as he slipped another finger inside her, and grinned wider still as she whined his name.

Hermione covered his mouth with hers, succeeding both in muffling the pleasurable groans she couldn't help making and in removing the smug smirk from George's face. As his hands were occupied, she reached between them and found his belt, making quick work of undoing it and his zipper. Untucking his shirt, Hermione spent a moment first rubbing her hands against his chest and stomach before sliding a hand into his pants, grasping his thick erection. She could feel George smile against her lips, and that quickly was replaced with his own muted sighs as she started to slowly pump her hand up and down.

The pair fought not to become distracted from their own individual duties, as they were each being brought to closer and closer to orgasm. Eventually, they realized simultaneously that they required much closer contact, and removing their hands from each other, Hermione pulled her dress up further and laid back on the blanket, while George positioned himself over her.

He slid inside her easily, as she was slick with her arousal, and they both moaned happily as he did so. Bunching the blanket up in her fists, Hermione raised her legs as high as possible, spreading them as far apart as she could.

George thrust into her as slowly as his primal urges would allow him to do so, refusing to allow himself to experience too much pleasure before Hermione did. He readjusted the angle he entered her, recognizing the change in pitch to her cries that signalled the build-up to an orgasm. He teased her, moving leisurely, creating a slow, delicious friction until she moaned impatiently. The speed of his actions soon increased, taking her hard and fast as she called out for more.

Hermione howled George's name as she could feel her muscles start to contract, tightening around his hard length. She could feel her whole body tensing, and hollered louder than ever as her release finally came. After only a few more thrusts, George joined her, calling her name in a low, guttural tone as he spilled inside her.

Collapsing on top of her, totally spent, George reached a hand to Hermione's face and tenderly stroked her cheek with a single finger, and gazed into her eyes for a long moment before he kissed her gently.

"So you're definitely sure? You want to marry me?" he asked, feeling somewhat silly as he did so, as their bout of love-making had been inspired by his proposal, but he still felt the tiniest bit insecure.

Hermione beamed at him, and wrapped her arms around him. "Of course I do. I want to more than anything else," she said, and she pressed her lips to his in a searing kiss.

George allowed his tongue to find hers, but after a few minutes of languid kissing and caressing, he pulled back.

"I think we'd better get back inside," he said. "If we continue like this, we're going to miss the whole reception. And we have a whole lifetime ahead of us to spend on… well, this." He grinned cheekily.

Hermione sighed. "I suppose you're right. Now, how do we handle this?" she asked, holding up her left hand. "Do we announce our engagement, or should I take the ring off and let it lie for the day? What do you think?"

"I never even liked the idea of proposing during someone else's occasion, but you did kind of force it out of me," he said, smiling. "Let's not say anything, but I don't want you taking that ring off now that I've got it on you. Keep it on, and we'll answer questions only if asked."

"Sounds good," she agreed.

The two stood up and arranged their clothing to appear decent upon their return to the banquet hall. As they re-entered, they first came upon Ginny and Harry, who were nearest to the door. Ginny rushed right over to them upon their entrance, and seeing that they were holding hands, broke out into a wide smile.

"So you two are okay?" she asked hopefully.

They looked at each other, and both nodded.

"Very okay," answered Hermione.

Ginny grabbed Hermione's left hand. "Is this what I think it is?"

Hermione nodded, unable to control the massive smile spreading across her face.

Ginny squealed, and took her best friend and older brother in a hug. When she eventually let go, Hermione was spun around and hugged by Harry as well.

"You have to tell me everything! Well, everything decent, anyway. Please leave out the dirty parts; he is my brother, after all," Ginny smirked.

"What?" Hermione asked, stunned. "I – we just – nothing like that happened…"

"Oh really?" asked Ginny smugly. "Well then, please allow my first question about your recent engagement to be, 'what _is_ the reason you have cheesecake smeared all over the back of your dress?'"


End file.
